Cox’s Encino, Star of Wonder Lead Pimlico Special
For trainer Brad Cox, there are one of two distinctly different ways to win the $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3).
One is with Godolphin’s Encino , a grade 3 winner looking for the third stakes victory of his career.
The other is with WinStar Farm’s Star of Wonder , who comes into the May 16 stakes at Pimlico Race Course from the opposite end of the spectrum. The 1 3/16-mile dirt test will serve as the first stakes appearance for the 4-year-old who has won four of his five starts.
“They’re both doing well,” Cox said. “I think they’ll both like the distance.”
The stock of the Cox’s uncoupled duo went up with the anticipated scratch of 2024 Pimlico Special winner and Friday’s 8-5 morning-line favorite Pyrenees . Daily Racing Form’s David Grening reported that trainer Cherie DeVaux said Pyrenees did not exit his most recent breeze satisfactorily.
Both Cox-trained colts are coming into the race in sharp form.
Encino, a homebred son of Nyquist , won the 2024 Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland and was entered in last year’s Kentucky Derby (G1) but was scratched due to a soft tissue issue. That kept him on the sidelines until Jan. 16 when he won an allowance optional claimer at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. He then tired badly and faded to seventh in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) before bouncing back in his most recent start, a second in the Kentucky Cup Classic (G3) on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. Two of the seven returnees from the Kentucky Cup Classic won their next starts, and another, victorious Mercante , ran second in the Turf Classic (G1T) on Derby day.
“We wheeled him back in three weeks after a dull effort at Gulfstream,” Cox said about 4-year-old Encino. “We didn’t really think he’d like the one turn down at Gulfstream. I thought he ran a really big race at Turfway. The horse that beat him came back and ran really well. A lot of positives. He’s had plenty of time to recover since the Turfway race, and (he’s) back to the dirt. He’s a graded-stakes winner on dirt. I think he’s a dual surface horse. We’ll see how things go Friday, but I think he could even run on the turf at some point if the right opportunity presented itself.”
Star of Wonder, a 4-year-old homebred son of Uncle Mo , comes off a victory in an April 4 allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct Racetrack in his lone 2025 start.
“He’s very well bred. He’s a nice horse doing really well right now and ran a big race at Aqueduct off the layoff,” Cox said.
Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Red Route One will try to improve upon a fourth-place finish for trainer Steve Asmussen in last year’s Pimlico Special. A 5-year-old homebred son of Gun Runner , the stone-cold closer won the Essex Handicap (G3) two starts ago and will be running in a stakes for the 25th straight race.
The expected field of nine also includes Jupiter Stable’s Phileas Fogg , a former claimer trying graded stakes company for the first time after winning the Excelsior Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths. The 5-year-old Astern gelding is trained by Gustavo Rodriguez.
Entries: Pimlico Special S. (G3)
Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 16, 2025, Race 12
- Grade III
- 1 3/16m
- Dirt
- $250,000
- 3 yo’s & up
- 5:10 PM (local)
